So I found myself alone in Madrid. Unexpectedly. I said goodbye to Darwin and I never saw him again. A text message saying he had to work. My first and only Saturday in Madrid. Woke up the following morning to the sound of absence. Realised I only had myself to think about. Managed to communicate with a guy who only spoke Spanish and worked out where I had to go. Got help from some women who only spoke Spanish and found the hostal where i needed to go. Located it, packed my stuff and made a definite decision to drag my case down stairs while wearing heels. It seemed appropriate somehow. Defiance or maybe I just didn't give a fuck.
I arrived at the hostal with the words 'No hablo espanol - parli italiano?' to discover the guy who ran the hostal was called Carlos, from Uruguay, and he spoke perfect Italian.
Deliberated about booking a single/double room. Tried to phone Darwin but no reply. So I booked a single room.
Went into Madrid and found a cafe. Menu in Spanish. Thankfully the day before I'd learnt that queso = cheese so I ordered una tosta de queso which I was sure was a cheese toastie and it was. I was sitting with a big cheese toastie in the sun in a cafe in Madrid when I got a text from Darwin.
'I'm in a police station. The police came into the place where we were cooking. Dunno when we're gonna be let out.'
I am sitting in a cafe in Madrid with a big cheese toastie reading the text and thinking 'What??????'
I wrote back saying tell me where you are and I'll come find you. Nada. Of course. Nada.
When i met Dolores the following day, I knew the universe was having a laugh. But what happened the following day and all the 4 days after made me wonder how far the universe was really laughing. the next couple of days in Madrid were far from pleasant. They were probably some of the worst days in my life...
